Support for a roof hatch rail

ABSTRACT

A support for a railing of a roof hatch having a coaming has an angle body with a first elongate member and a second elongate members that is perpendicular to the first elongate member. First and second brackets extend inward from the first and second elongate members, respectively. Each bracket has a coaming-receiving portion that is sized and shaped to directly engage the inner surface, upper surface and outer surface of the hatch coaming, and a flashing covering portion that is sized and shaped to receive the flashing. The bracket engages the coaming such that the angle body is supported laterally adjacent to the flashing of the coaming. One or more post supports connected to and extending outward from angle body.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This relates to a support for a roof hatch rail

BACKGROUND

Roof hatches are often surrounded by a rail for safety reasons. Such arail is available from PSM Roof Hatch Railings Inc. (seehttp://www.psmroofhatchrailings.ca/). As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, arailing 102 surrounds a hatch 104 in a roof 106. Hatch 104 has a coaming105 and a cover 107. Referring to FIG. 2, railing 102 is supported by acorner support 108, which attached to hatch 104 below the flashing 110.Other railing supports may be mounted directly to the roof, althoughthis is not preferred as it requires holes in the roof surface asopposed to a protected area under the flashing 110. Railing 102 includessupport posts 112 and cross pieces 114.

SUMMARY

There is provided a support for a railing of a roof hatch, the roofhatch comprising a hatch cover supported by a hatch coaming mounted tothe roof, the hatch coaming comprising an inner surface surrounding anopening in the roof, an upper surface, an outer surface and flashingextending out from an outer surface of the hatch body and spaceddownward from the upper surface. The railing support comprises an anglebody comprising a first elongate member and a second elongate membersthat is perpendicular to the first elongate member, and a first bracketextending inward from the first elongate member and a second bracketextending inward from the second elongate member, each bracket having acoaming-receiving portion that is sized and shaped to directly engagethe inner surface, upper surface and outer surface of the hatch coaming,and a flashing covering portion that is sized and shaped to receive theflashing, the bracket engages the coaming such that the angle body issupported laterally adjacent to the flashing of the coaxing. There areone or more post supports connected to and extending outward from anglebody.

According to another aspect, the first and second elongate members maybe connected at a corner of the angle body. There may be a post supportconnected to and extends outward from the corner of the angle body.

According to another aspect, the first and second brackets may furthercomprise an underlying portion that extends through the opening of theroof and engages an under surface of the roof. The underlying portionmay be pin connected to the under surface of the roof.

According to another aspect, the brackets may be pin connected to thecoaming.

According to another aspect, one or more flashing inserts may beinserted between the flashing and the coaming. The one or more flashinginserts may underlie the bracket.

According to another aspect, the flashing engaging portion is sized andshaped to directly engage the flashing.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method of installing arailing around a roof hatch, the roof hatch comprising a hatch coversupported by a hatch coaming mounted to the roof, the hatch coamingcomprising an inner surface surrounding an opening in the roof, an uppersurface, an outer surface and flashing extending out from an outersurface of the hatch body and spaced downward from the upper surface,the railing comprising support posts and cross members supported by thesupport posts, the method comprising the steps of: providing railingsupports as described above; installing the railing supports at eachcorner of the roof hatch by placing the first and second bracket overthe hatch coaming such that the angle body is supported laterallyadjacent to the flashing of the coaming; and installing the supportposts and the cross members around the roof hatch by installing thesupport posts in the post supports.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the followingdescription in which reference is made to the appended drawings, thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intendedto be in any way limiting, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art hatch railing system.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a prior art corner support.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a railing support.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a railing support installed on a hatchcoaming.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are side elevation views of the railing support installedon a hatch coaming.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of an alternative railing support.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A support 10 for a railing of a roof hatch is shown in FIG. 3 through 7,and is used to support posts 112 around hatch coaming 105. Hatch coaming105 is mounted to roof 106 and has an inner surface 116 surrounding anopening 118 in roof 106, an upper surface 120, an outer surface 122 andflashing 110 that extends out from outer surface 122 and is spaceddownward from upper surface 120. Hatch coaming 105 has a cross-sectiondefined by these features, and support 10, as will be described below,has a similar shape that engages hatch coaming 105.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, support 10 has an angle body 12 with firstand second elongate members 14 and 16 that are perpendicular to eachother. As shown, elongate members 14 and 16 are connected to each otherat a corner 18 of angle body 12. Elongate members 14 and 16 arepreferably flat pieces of metal that lie along flashing 110 wheninstalled. Other shapes and materials may be used. In order to supportelongate members 14 and 16, first and second brackets 20 and 22 areattached and extend inward from first and second elongate members 14 and16, respectively. As shown, first and second brackets 20 and 22 arewelded to the outer surface of elongate members 14 and 16 such that theinner surface of elongate members 14 and 16 are free to engage flashing110 when installed.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, brackets 20 and 22 have a coaming-receivingportion 24 that is sized and shaped to directly engage the inner surface116, upper surface 120 and outer surface 122 of hatch coaming 105.Coaming-receiving portion 24 engages coaming 105 in such a way that itdoes not interfere with hatch cover 107, Bracket 20/22 also has aflashing covering portion 26 that is sized and shaped to receiveflashing 110. Preferably, flashing covering portion 26 also directlyengages flashing 110. As shown, an insert 28 may be placed behindflashing 110 to provide structural support flashing 110 against bracket20/22. Insert 28 may extend along some or all of flashing 110, butpreferably at least underlies the portion adjacent to brackets 20 and22. As can be seen, bracket 20/22 engages hatch coaming 105 such thatangle body 12 is supported laterally adjacent to flashing 110 of hatchwarning 105. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, flashing 110 may have differentsizes, and may have different shapes. Bracket 20/22 is preferablydesigned based on the type of flashing being used in any particularinstallation.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, support 10 also has one or more postsupports 30 that are connected to and extend outward from angle body 12.Preferably, there is one post support 30 that extends out from corner18, such that post 112 is held at an equal distance from elongatemembers 14 and 16. Similar to what is shown in FIG. 1, these posts 112are then used to support cross pieces 114 as part of a railing 102. Itwill be understood that other designs may also be used, depending on thedesign of railing 102. For example, post support 30 may extend out fromonly one elongate member 14 or 16, or there may be a post support 30 oneach.

Angle body 12 is preferably mounted in such a way that there are noholes in roof 106 or coaming 105 that may become exposed to the elementsor a build-up of moisture, such as in a spring thaw. In addition,brackets 20 and 22 are more fully supported by coaming 105, as theweight is borne primarily by upper surface 120. This can be comparedwith FIG. 2, where the weight of railing 102 is supported by the pinconnection, and where a bending moment is applied at that connection dueto the spacing of posts 112 from conning 105. Referring to FIGS. 5 and6, brackets 20 and 22, due to their shape, are already well-supportedagainst roaming 105, but may be further engaged by pin connections usingnails or screws 32, as shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, referring to FIG.7, a bolt may pass through bracket 20/22 and the upper portion ofcoaming 105. This is preferably done such that it is sheltered by hatchcover 107. Alternatively or in addition, bracket 20/22 may be providedwith an underlying portion 34 that extends through opening 118 of roof106 and engages an under surface of roof 106. Underlying portion 34 maythen be pin connected in place. For ease of installation and to providealternative uses, underlying portion 34 is preferably removable from andadjustable relative to the inside of bracket 20/22.

Referring to FIG. 4, support 10 is installed by placing brackets 20 and22 over coaming 105 such that the top of coaming 105 is received withincoaming-receiving portion 24 such that coaming-receiving portion 24 isimmediately adjacent and directly engages coaming 105. When brackets 20and 22 are installed, elongate members 14 and 16 are positioned adjacentto flashing 110. In order to support brackets 20 and 22 as well aselongate members 14 and 16, inserts 28 may be placed between flashing110 and coaming 105. Referring to FIG. 5-7, brackets 20 and 22 aresecured in place, such as by using pin connectors. Pin connectors 32 maybe placed in various locations through brackets 20 and 22 or throughelongate members 14 and 16, and may or may not pass through warning 105.Alternatively, brackets 20 and 22 may be secured by underlying portion34, which may also be pin connected in place using pin connectors 32into the under surface of roof 106.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

The following claims are to be understood to include what isspecifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptuallyequivalent, and what can be obviously substituted. The scope of theclaims should not be limited by the preferred embodiments set forth inthe examples above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A support for a railing of a roof hatch, the roofhatch comprising a hatch cover supported by a hatch coaming mounted tothe roof, the hatch coaming comprising an inner surface surrounding anopening in the roof, an upper surface, an outer surface and flashingextending out from an outer surface of the hatch body and spaceddownward from the upper surface, the railing support comprising: anangle body comprising a first elongate member and a second elongatemembers that is perpendicular to the first elongate member; a firstbracket extending inward from the first elongate member and a secondbracket extending inward from the second elongate member, each brackethaving a coaming-receiving portion that is sized and shaped to directlyengage the inner surface, upper surface and outer surface of the hatchcoaming, and a flashing covering portion that is sized and shaped toreceive the flashing, the bracket engages the coaming such that theangle body is supported laterally adjacent to the flashing of thecoaming; and one or more post supports connected to and extendingoutward from angle body.
 2. The railing support of claim 1, wherein thefirst and second elongate members are connected at a corner of the anglebody.
 3. The railing support of claim 2, comprising a post support thatis connected to and extends outward from the corner of the angle body.4. The railing support of claim 1, wherein the first and second bracketsfurther comprise an underlying portion that extends through the openingof the roof and engages an under surface of the roof.
 5. The railingsupport of claim 1, wherein the brackets are pin connected to thecoaming.
 6. The railing support of claim 4, wherein the underlyingportion is pin connected to the under surface of the roof.
 7. Therailing support of claim 1, further comprising one or more flashinginsert inserted between the flashing and the coaming.
 8. The railingsupport of claim 7, wherein the one or more flashing inserts underliesthe bracket.
 9. The railing support of claim 1, wherein the flashingengaging portion is sized and shaped to directly engage the flashing.10. A method of installing a railing around a roof hatch, the roof hatchcomprising a hatch cover supported by a hatch coaming mounted to theroof, the hatch coaming comprising an inner surface surrounding anopening in the roof, an upper surface, an outer surface and flashingextending out from an outer surface of the hatch body and spaceddownward from the upper surface, the railing comprising support postsand cross members supported by the support posts, the method comprisingthe steps of: providing railing supports, each railing supportcomprising: an angle body comprising first and second elongate membersextending perpendicularly from a corner of the angle body; a firstbracket extending inward from the first elongate member and a secondbracket extending inward from the second elongate member, each brackethaving a coaming receiving portion that is sized and shaped to directlyengage the inner surface, upper surface and outer surface of the hatchcoaming, and a flashing covering portion that is sized and shaped toreceive the flashing; and one or more post supports connected to andextending outward from angle body; installing the railing supports ateach corner of the roof hatch by placing the first and second bracketover the hatch coaming such that the angle body is supported laterallyadjacent to the flashing of the coaming; and installing the supportposts and the cross members around the roof hatch by installing thesupport posts in the post supports.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinthe first and second elongate members are connected at a corner of theangle body.
 12. The method of claim 10, comprising a post support thatis connected to and extends outward from the corner of the angle body.13. The method of claim 10, wherein the first and second bracketsfurther comprise an underlying portion that extends through the openingof the roof and engages an under surface of the roof.
 14. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising the step of pin connecting the brackets tothe coaming.
 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step ofpin connecting the underlying portion to the under surface of the roof.16. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of inserting oneor more flashing inserts between the flashing and the coaming.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the one or more flashing inserts is insertedto underlie the bracket.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein theflashing engaging portion is sized and shaped to directly engage theflashing.